How to Read the Mishnah and Midrash

"A stunning achievement. Ishay Rosen-Zvi has accomplished the impossible—a truly accessible, comprehensive, and cutting-edge introduction for the nonspecialist to the Mishnah and Midrash, the foundational documents of classical Judaism."—David Stern, Professor of Classical and Modern Jewish Literature, Harvard University

"A masterful introduction to the two genres of rabbinic literature—halachah and exegesis, mishnah and midrash—that have lastingly shaped Jewish literary creativity for the last two millennia. Like few scholars of this generation, Rosen-Zvi knows how to make these second- and third-century texts come alive, for students both in traditional Jewish study halls and in secular universities."—Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert, Stanford University

"How to Read the Mishnah and Midrash provides a powerful introduction to early rabbinic literature, equipping readers to unlock a historically significant and intellectually intricate tradition. Instead of merely describing these texts, it shows how their arguments are structured and how literary form intersects with legal and interpretive reasoning. Going even further, it initiates readers into the substantial body of modern research in rabbinics, engaging both early critical theories and the most recent scholarship. It does all this with a combination of accessibility and rigor that makes it a vital resource not only for students but also for scholars in adjacent fields such as biblical studies, classics, and the history of late antiquity. A feat of erudition, clarity, and synthesis."—Moulie Vidas, Princeton University, author of The Rise of Talmud

"Ishay Rosen-Zvi's new book is the finest introductory work on tannaitic literature that I have ever seen. It will provide beginners in the field with a lucid, rich, and deep basis upon which to conduct further studies. For seasoned learners and scholars, it will have great value for the masterful way that it grapples with scholarly debates, providing a reliable guide into and out of the thicket of these two thorny but crucial ancient Jewish literary productions. A pleasure to read."—Daniel Boyarin, Hermann P. and Sophia Taubman Professor Emeritus of Talmudic Culture, University of California, Berkeley